Ava DuVernay and the Central Park 5 Have a Word for Donald Trump

Whatchu know 'bout "due process," Willis?

Rob Porter resigned from the Oval Office in the wake of recent domestic violence accusations, but rather than condemn him in the same way he did the Central Park Five (the president still thinks Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Yusef Salaam, and Antron McCray are all guilty, despite DNA evidence that proves otherwise) Donald Trump is standing behind the former White House staff secretary.

On Saturday (February 10), the president took to Twitter to send Porter well wishes and commend him for the “very good job” he did while in the White House.

“Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation,” he wrote. “Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused—a life and career gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?”

Funny, because that wasn’t the tune he was singing in 1989 when he called for the death penalty to be brought upon five innocent teens. Raymond Santana, who was one of the five teenagers accused of beating and raping a jogger in Central Park, did not allow Trump’s message to go unaddressed. “You should have spoke like that back in 1989,” he said in response to Trump’s tweet. “We were 14 & 15 years old.”

In July, Ava DuVernay announced that she is working on a five-part Netflix miniseries chronicling the case of the Central Park Five, covering the story from 1989 to 2014.

“The story of the men known as the Central Park Five has riveted me for more than two decades,” she said in the announcement. “In their journey, we witness five innocent young men of color who were met with injustice at every turn—from coerced confessions to unjust incarceration to public calls for their execution by the man who would go on to be the president of the United States.”

DuVernay took to social media on Saturday to reinforce her solidarity with the five men, tweeting to Trump: “We will tell the story. You can’t hide.”

“Proud to stand with the men and families who endured false convictions, untold trauma and unjust incarceration as we bring the story known as #CentralParkFive to screens,” she continued on Instagram. “Their names are Korey, Antron, Raymond, Yusef, and Kevin. And they were innocent.”

While a premiere date for DuVernay’s series has yet to be announced, you can check out the 2012 documentary about the five men created by Ken and Sarah Burns for PBS.